444 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



October 



content to have their lands reclaimed 

 by the government under any condi- 

 tion which may be deemed wise. Wa- 

 ter is vital to them, and they only ask 

 to be supplied with water, and leave 

 to the government the terms, knowing 

 that these will be small in accordance 

 with law and in an equitable manner, 

 without profit or interest. 



On the other hand, the people in 

 the less arid part of the country who 

 are now owning the irrigable lands do 

 not, as a rule, want these irrigated. 

 The tradesmen in the towns and local 

 statesmen are exceedingly eager to see 

 the government spend its money and 

 are indifferent as to how it is spent. 

 They are the ones who are urging im- 

 mediate construction of irrigation 

 works. 



The men who own the land to be 

 irrigated do not display anything like 

 this eagerness. Many of them state 

 frankly that they will not irrigate ; that 

 they do not want the water ; that for 

 the last year or two they have had 

 good crops, and do not wish to be 

 bothered with the necessary change in 

 form of agriculture. More than this 

 they prefer to cultivate on a large 

 scale several hundred acres rather 

 than confine themselves by intensive 

 farming to 40 or 80 acres. They have 

 always been accustomed to the use of 

 machinery and cannot for a moment 

 admit that they will ever be content 

 to go back to the careful and thorough 

 irrigation and cultivation of what 

 seems to them mere kitchen gardens. 



The owners of these lands are per- 

 fectly willing that the government 

 should put in irrigating plants, build 

 the ditches, and be in a position to sup- 

 ply them with water if they should 

 ever want it; but they absolutely re- 

 fuse to bind themselves to use this wa- 

 ter or pay for it, unless in the future 

 they might wish to use it on a small 

 area. In other words, they would like 

 to see the money spent in their vicin- 

 ity; would like to be in a position to 

 enjoy the benefits of such expenditure, 

 provided they are not put to any in- 

 convenience, or called upon to pay for 



the improvements unless they so de- 

 sire. 



Conditions A prominent civil engi- 



R I iv < ;r 10rad0 neer visitin - the west 

 writes that the condi- 

 tions on the lower Colorado River are 

 steadily growing worse. Some years 

 ago a Mexican corporation diverted 

 the river on its right bank in Mexi- 

 can territory. A part of the waters 

 was conducted westerly and finally 

 flowed into a depression known as the 

 Salton Sink, this being in southern 

 California adjacent to Mexico. The 

 sink and surrounding desert land ex- 

 tend down to nearly 300 feet below 

 sea level. 



During the past year the Colorado 

 River has gradually enlarged the tem- 

 porary opening and has eaten into the 

 bed and bottom of the artificial chan- 

 nel until now nearly the entire volume 

 of the stream rushes down a relatively 

 steep slope into this great depression. 

 The water accumulating in the basin 

 is slowly rising and has already inun- 

 dated settlements and has forced the 

 abandonment of many miles of the 

 Southern Pacific track, the road being 

 forced to build temporary tracks 

 around the rising sea. 



The river at the point where it es- 

 capes has now cut its bed down near- 

 ly 9 feet below the usual level and the 

 ancient channel of the river is being 

 eaten backwards up toward Yuma, so 

 that the canals which formerly took 

 water upon the irrigable lands near 

 Yuma are left high and dry and the 

 people are being forced to abandon 

 their homes and farms. The condition 

 is serious, and unless Uncle Sam takes 

 a vigorous hand and politely but firmly 

 requires that the river be restored to 

 its old channel there will be great loss- 

 es to American citizens, both in the 

 vicinity of Yuma and in the Salton 

 sink. 



It may cost half a million of dollars 

 to get the river back in its proper chan- 

 nel. The material through which it 

 has cut its new channel is the very 

 light soft mud which has been depos- 



